4 creator-focused iPhone 17 Pro features that make me want to ditch my iPhone 16 Pro

• A truly usable front camera? Say it ain’t so
• The new 48-megapixel big guns
• A display upgrade to help clarity
• Storage for days on end

At Apple’s “Awe Dropping” fall hardware event in September, several new pieces of tech were showcased to the public for the first time. If you’re a creator, though, you may have felt a bit left out, as this particular launch seemed like it was more about form over function — with new displays and accessory tech getting all the eyeballs. There’s no need to fear, though, as the release had some goodies tucked inside for us content creators, too.

In the first large-scale design change we’ve seen come to the iPhone in quite some time, the iPhone 17 is the best the market offers in terms of camera quality and usability, and iOS 26 even brings a few features with it that streamlines workflows, improves editing flow states, and simply creates higher quality social media content across the board.

A truly usable front camera? Say it ain’t so

The most intriguing step up from previous generations

We’ll get to the massive improvements for professional film-makers in a moment, but those of us who are simply looking to grow their social following or create high-quality vlogging content without carrying around a special camera should be relieved that Apple’s new Center Stage selfie camera checks in at a whopping 18-megapixel. That’s up a good notch from the measly 12-megapixel of my iPhone 16 Pro, and should be high-quality enough to keep up with most (if not all) vlogging-specific offerings on the market, like the DJI Osmo Pocket 3.

With the new center-stage setup, you should be able to set up shop anywhere with good lighting and record your stand-up videos while seeing your framing in live view, then transfer into your favorite editing software for the final tweaks. Work flow gets improved, content quality gets higher, and you and your followers feel that little bit closer.

The new 48-megapixel big guns

For iPhone cinematic creators, this is new territory

For some context here, my full-time content creation rig sensor is only 24-megapixel, so the new triple 48-megapixel setup on the rear-facing cameras of the 17 Pro and Pro Max are true game changers. Firstly, there’s the main camera, which works from a 24/48mm focal length and boasts a more than adequate aperture for night shooting at f/1.78, which lets as much light in as my most wide-open pro lenses. Then, the ultra-wide offers a 13mm focal length at a constant aperture of f/2.2. The 48-megapixel will make cropping your .5x photos a breeze with this new setting. Finally, the new telephoto lense offers a 100/200mm focal length with a maximum aperture of f/2.8, the equivalent of one of the most famous lenses in any professional bag.

Those aperture settings will be plenty to help in low-light situations, but to dial up the specs (and dial down the noise), the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max also come with a low-light and night mode, which should make your videos as crispy as needed in harsh light conditions.

A display upgrade to help clarity

Never be disappointed after file transfers again

On the surface, the new iPhone display might not mean much to creators that don’t edit their own content. However, Apple has been lacking in the display game for quite some time, and now, with a 120Hz refresh rate and 3,000 nits of peak brightness, the iPhone 17 should give users a much clearer, brighter image of exactly what they’re working with in terms of imagery and video.

The new display aims to give creators a better idea of what they’re actually working with once they sit down to hammer out the finer details of their work.

There’s nothing more frustrating than leaving a shoot, thinking you nailed the shot, and only getting home to find out that it doesn’t quite look like it did on your phone screen. Whether you’re using the new Center Stage look or shooting all day with the rear-facing cameras, the new display aims to give creators a better idea of what they’re actually working with once they sit down to hammer out the finer details of their work.

Storage for days on end

Spend less time clearing your cache and more time creating

The previous generation of iPhones started with 128GB of internal storage, which was about enough to transfer over all of your old data, and not much more. However, the iPhone 17 sells as standard with 256GB of storage and goes all the way up to 2TB for the top-tier model. That means you won’t need to purchase near as much cloud storage or offload your files onto separate drives nearly as often. I don’t know a single creative that doesn’t want quick, easy access to their files, and the added storage also lets users record higher-quality video content more frequently.

What’s not to like about that? At this point, I’m at least considering trading in my iPhone 16 Pro for this new model, and I wouldn’t blame you if you did, too.